Thread: Correcting carriage jams

The printer carriage comprises a rail and the ink cartridges. This kind of error message could be due to any of the following: You may have removed a jammed paper from the front tray [forcibly) instead of the rear access door [which is the correct way to do it!. The other possibility is that the print cartridges were incorrectly installed and are misaligned. But the most common reason is that there is some obstruction in the path of the print carriage.

First remove the power chord. Check the installation of the ink cartridges. Refer to your printer manual. Remove all cartridges and reinstall them if necessary. Then switch off the printer and restart it. You can also align the cartridges using the software that came with the printer. Instructions differ among models, so refer to the manual.



If the problem is not resolved, check if there is some obstruction in the linear path along which the cartridges move. Open the rear access door [explained earlier in this article!. Remove any bits of paper between the rollers, on the carriage, or near the ink cartridges. Use your hand to gently rotate the paper feed rollers in an upward direction at about half a turn.

If possible, open the top lid of the printer [under the scanner unit!. Check if the ink cartridges are in their home position (either the extreme left or extreme right side!. If they are not, then use your hand to gently guide them back to their home position. If there is some obstruction you will immediately notice it while manually sliding the cartridges along the carriage rail. If the cartridges refuse to move further, do not apply force. Find out what is causing the obstruction and remove it. Also clean the rail with a lint-free cloth. Then apply a thin coat of Vaseline to the rail. Applying a new coat of grease can work wonders.